Vote No. 9 is being discussed with this Estimate. Deputy Treacy reported progress.
Committee on Finance. - Vote 8—Public Works and Buildings (Resumed).
Debate resumed on the following motion:
That a sum not exceeding £6,229,700 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1966, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Office of Public Works; for expenditure in respect of Public Buildings; for the Maintenance of certain Parks and Public Works; and for the Execution and Maintenance of Drainage and other Engineering Works.—(Minister for Finance.)
I indicated last night that my primary purpose in intervening in this debate was to impress on the Parliamentary Secretary the necessity for proceeding with all possible speed towards the implementation of the arterial drainage scheme throughout the country. Drainage is one of the primary functions of the Office of Public Works. What can be done as a result of drainage from the point of view of stimulating agricultural production, following on the reclamation of the arable land adjoining our rivers, is incalculable. It is a rich reward towards which to work.
I am particularly concerned about the flooding of the Suir and its tributaries. Because of the proposal to carry out an arterial drainage scheme, there is a tendency now on the part of local authorities to desist from doing anything at all in relation to the drainage of rivers. Clearly, local authorities cannot provide the kind of capital required for dredging, draining, maintenance, embankments and so on. Consequently there is a serious deterioration and the correction of that deterioration will be very costly unless we act quickly.
I hope the Parliamentary Secretary will be able to indicate to me that we shall not have to wait until 1970 for the commencement of work on the Suir. My colleagues on the county council and the Clonmel Corporation have felt for a long time that the Suir should have a much higher place on the priority list because of the fact that it is one of the biggest rivers in the country. We do not wish the priority list to be set aside but we feel the position of the Suir is unfair, having regard to the size and importance of the river and its tributaries. I hope to see the works commence at an early date. The preparatory work has long since been carried out and there seems to be a very wasteful time-lag now. For two years no work has been done. It is high time work commenced. The river must be drained from the source to the sea and, when that is done, rich arable acres in Tipperary, Waterford and the Golden Vale will be reclaimed to the benefit of the hundreds of farmers along the river and to the benefit of the nation as a whole.
I am concerned about the delay in the erection and repair of schools. The Office of Public Works does not seem to be properly equipped to deal with the problem of school building and repair. It looks as if we must have a strike by pupils and parents in order to bring home to the Board of Works the urgency of this matter. Some of the schools are really appalling. They are nothing more than insanitary hovels in which teachers and children are compelled to remain for several hours at a stretch. How we can expect teachers to teach in them and children to be educated in them is something that passes my comprehension. There is a certain emphasis now on physical hygiene. How that can be taught in schools which have no piped water and no sanitation is something I cannot answer.
In my constituency we have had a number of school strikes in recent months. The Parliamentary Secretary will be aware of the strike at Russelstown in respect of the derelict, ruinous building there. There is also the strike at Lisnamrock, Coalbrook, Thurles, where parents, not for love of a strike but by reason of their concern for the health of their children, were obliged to keep them from school until such time as a deputation was forced to come up here to Dublin to the Board and have the work accelerated. In respect of school building, it is evident we have neither the contractors nor the equipment to carry out this work as speedily as one would desire.
Progress reported; Committee to sit again.